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The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing
- Narrated by: Mark Kurlansky
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
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Publisher's summary
National Outdoor Book Award Winner for Outdoor Literature
From the award-winning, bestselling author of Cod—the irresistible story of the science, history, art, and culture of the least efficient way to catch a fish.
Fly fishing, historian Mark Kurlansky has found, is a battle of wits, fly fisher vs. fish—and the fly fisher does not always (or often) win. The targets—salmon, trout, and char; and for some, bass, tarpon, tuna, bonefish, and even marlin—are highly intelligent, wily, strong, and athletic animals. The allure, Kurlansky learns, is that fly fishing makes catching a fish as difficult as possible. There is an art, too, in the crafting of flies. Beautiful and intricate, some are made with more than two dozen pieces of feather and fur from a wide range of animals. The cast as well is a matter of grace and rhythm, with different casts and rods yielding varying results.
Kurlansky is known for his deep dives into the history of specific subjects, from cod to oysters to salt. But he spent his boyhood days on the shore of a shallow pond. Here, where tiny fish weaved under a rocky waterfall, he first tied string to a branch, dangled a worm into the water, and unleashed his passion for fishing. Since then, a lifelong love of the sport has led him around the world to many countries, coasts, and rivers—from the wilds of Alaska to Basque country, from the Catskills in New York to Oregon's Columbia River, from Ireland and Norway to Russia and Japan. And, in true Kurlansky fashion, he absorbed every fact, detail, and anecdote along the way.
The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing marries Kurlansky's signature wide-ranging reach with a subject that has captivated him for a lifetime—combining history, craft, and personal memoir to show readers, devotees of the sport or not, the necessity of experiencing nature’s balm first-hand.
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While birding literature is filled with tales of expert observers spotting rare species in exotic locales, John Yow reminds us that the most fascinating birds can be the ones perched right outside our windows. In thirty-five engaging and sometimes irreverent vignettes, Yow reveals the fascinating lives of the birds we see nearly every day. Following the seasons, he covers forty-two species, discussing the improbable, unusual, and comical aspects of his subjects' lives.
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If You Love Birds . . . Grab It!
- By Kathy in CA on 02-23-17
By: John Yow
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Trout Eyes
- True Tales of Adventure, Travel, and Fly Fishing
- By: William G. Tapply
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Fly fishermen everywhere will enjoy these varied, witty, and engaging adventures by one of America’s finest outdoor writers. There is a long section on trout fishing called "Brookies, Browns, and Bows", and another on the challenges and excitement of saltwater fly fishing, and an exciting group of memoirs about fishing near home and in far-flung and often exotic places - like the Minipi, Bighorn, and Norfolk rivers, where the trout can beggar the imagination, and where frustration can be the occupational hazard.
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Hidden Gems of Fishing
- By C. Smith on 10-28-15
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No Shortage of Good Days
- By: John Gierach
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In No Shortage of Good Days John Gierach takes listeners from the Smokies in Tennessee to his home waters in Colorado, from the Canadian Maritimes to Mexico - saltwater or fresh, it's all fishing and all irresistible. As always he writes perceptively about a wide range of subjects: the charm of familiar waters, the etiquette of working with new fishing guides, night fishing when the trout and the mosquitoes are both biting, and fishing snobbery, a pitfall he seems to have largely avoided.
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I fish, but rarely fly fish.. love Gierach’s work
- By BearheartRaven on 04-24-20
By: John Gierach
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The Habit of Rivers
- Reflections on Trout Streams and Fly Fishing
- By: Ted Leeson, John Gierach - foreword
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Originally published in 1994, this book was a fly-fishing phenomenon in the way Howell Raines' Fly Fishing Through the Mid-Life Crisis was. Taking his fishing hobby to near metaphysical levels, Ted Leeson tells about his passions: rivers, trout, and fly fishing. With wry humor and rare insight, he explores questions that engage most fishermen: What is it about rivers that draws us so irresistibly, and why does fly fishing seem such an aptly suited response?
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Greatest Book I've Ever Listened To.
- By Travis on 03-17-18
By: Ted Leeson, and others
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A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
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I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
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The Bald Eagle
- The Improbable Journey of America's Bird
- By: Jack E. Davis
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you’re not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as “majestic” and “noble,” yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies.
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I thought the book would be about the bald eagle
- By An Amazon Buyer on 10-25-22
By: Jack E. Davis
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How to Think Like a Fish
- And Other Lessons from a Lifetime in Angling
- By: Jeremy Wade
- Narrated by: Jeremy Wade
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In his best-selling first book, Jeremy Wade, the star of the hit TV series River Monsters, memorably recounted his adventures on six continents in pursuit of fish of staggering proportions and terrifying demeanor. Now "the greatest angling explorer of his generation" (Independent on Sunday) returns to delight listeners with a book of an entirely different sort, the book he was always destined to write - the distillation of a life spent fishing. Thoughtful and funny, brimming with wisdom and above all, adventure, these are pitch-perfect reflections....
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Meh- ok....
- By Mr. Crunchy on 08-23-19
By: Jeremy Wade
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The Gulf
- The Making of an American Sea
- By: Jack E. Davis
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its "special kind of providence." Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America's sea - bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience - and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now. And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E. Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the 21st century.
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Decolonize gulf history
- By Jesse Carr on 05-02-18
By: Jack E. Davis
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The Last Fish Tale
- The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Fishing at sea, an ancient trade and a way of life that has defined coastal towns throughout history, may be coming to an end. The culture and traditions of coastal Britain and of seagoing nations everywhere are now threatened with extinction. Celebrated author Mark Kurlansky explores the fate of our oceans and the decline of our most ancient coastal enterprise.
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Love me some Kurlansky!
- By Eric Walden on 09-08-15
By: Mark Kurlansky
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As It Should Be
- Tales of Old Florida
- By: Lance Edwards
- Narrated by: Lance Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Comprised of vignettes from his own experiences of growing up in Central Florida, this native Floridian reveals "Old Florida" through its land, its people and their relationship to the times. This is not the Florida of the travel brochures or the concrete and glass glitz of the developers but rather the real Florida as known only by those who are proud to call themselves (or declare themselves) native Floridians. Laugh and cry with the exploits of these tough and proud people.
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Lots of boasting for a bit of History
- By Flo on 07-06-20
By: Lance Edwards
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The Log from the Sea of Cortez
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the exciting day-by-day account of Steinbeck's trip to the Gulf of California with biologist Ed Ricketts. Drawn from the longer Sea of Cortez, it is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure.
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Beautiful Book
- By Stuart on 10-07-17
By: John Steinbeck
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Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
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Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
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The Wilderness Warrior
- Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
- By: Douglas Brinkley
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 40 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps the greatest U.S. presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War I.
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I DID keep listening
- By Susan Gardner Bowers on 01-13-10
By: Douglas Brinkley
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The cod has played a vital part in livelihoods, diets, and health in general — as well as roles in national economies and international wars. Drawing on his love of food and food culture, Mark Kurlansky leaps into history and folklore to explore how this innocuous fish had such an impact over the centuries.
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Seven and a half hour about COD???
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As Julia Child once said, “It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions.” Historically, she’s been right—and not just in the kitchen. Uniquely flourishing in just about every climate and culture around the world, onions have provided the essential basis not only for sautés, stews, and stir fries, but for medicines, metaphors, and folklore. Abundantly commonplace yet extraordinarily indispensable, the onion is Kurlansky's newest global food fixation as he sets out to explore how and why the crop reigns over Wales to Italy and everywhere in between.
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The author reading his own work sounds bored with own writing
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The Optimist
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In The Optimist, David Coggins makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide. Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats.
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But the hard copy.
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Milk!
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Mark Kurlansky's first global food history since the best-selling Cod and Salt; the fascinating cultural, economic and culinary story of milk and all things dairy - with recipes throughout. According to the Greek creation myth, we are so much spilt milk; a splatter of the goddess Hera's breast milk became our galaxy, the Milky Way.
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Horrible narration nearly kills Kurlansky
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The Believer
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In The Optimist, David Coggins tackled the techniques of fly-fishing and meditated on its virtues, recounting his triumphs and failures. Now, in The Believer, he deftly mixes travel, local cultures, further fishing challenges (some knee-buckling in their disappointment), and details his own experience as life and love crowd his time to fish.
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Great Writing
- By Anonymous User on 10-01-24
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Cod
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The cod has played a vital part in livelihoods, diets, and health in general — as well as roles in national economies and international wars. Drawing on his love of food and food culture, Mark Kurlansky leaps into history and folklore to explore how this innocuous fish had such an impact over the centuries.
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Seven and a half hour about COD???
- By B. W. Larsen on 03-01-03
By: Mark Kurlansky
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Salmon
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- Narrated by: Mark Kurlansky
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
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In what he says is the most important piece of environmental writing in his long and award-winning career, Mark Kurlansky, best-selling author of Salt and Cod, The Big Oyster, 1968, and Milk, among many others, employs his signature multi-century storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon.
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More about people than salmon
- By BigJay on 02-10-21
By: Mark Kurlansky
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The Core of an Onion
- Peeling the Rarest Common Food—Featuring More Than 100 Historical Recipes
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As Julia Child once said, “It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions.” Historically, she’s been right—and not just in the kitchen. Uniquely flourishing in just about every climate and culture around the world, onions have provided the essential basis not only for sautés, stews, and stir fries, but for medicines, metaphors, and folklore. Abundantly commonplace yet extraordinarily indispensable, the onion is Kurlansky's newest global food fixation as he sets out to explore how and why the crop reigns over Wales to Italy and everywhere in between.
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The author reading his own work sounds bored with own writing
- By rwz on 12-07-23
By: Mark Kurlansky
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The Optimist
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In The Optimist, David Coggins makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide. Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats.
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But the hard copy.
- By Mike L. on 05-30-21
By: David Coggins
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Milk!
- A 10,000-Year Food Fracas
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
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Mark Kurlansky's first global food history since the best-selling Cod and Salt; the fascinating cultural, economic and culinary story of milk and all things dairy - with recipes throughout. According to the Greek creation myth, we are so much spilt milk; a splatter of the goddess Hera's breast milk became our galaxy, the Milky Way.
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Horrible narration nearly kills Kurlansky
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The Believer
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What listeners say about The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hans
- 03-13-24
The audio quality
This book was very informative however the audio quality was found to be non existent
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- william d. Epstein
- 01-05-23
Narrator weak . Hard to understand
It was hard for me to listen to this book as the narration is just not sharp between the sound quality and the voice. Please credit me thank you.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-12-23
Buy the book, not the audio book
It was interesting and informative for anyone into fly fishing but performance and quality of recording made it almost unlistenable.
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- Bradford
- 05-07-24
Excellent book, Terrible Audiobook
I own this book and I thought I’d give it a second “read” while out on the river. You can actually hear email and text messages coming in during the recording. Sounds like it was recorded in-front of an open laptop through the integrated speakers and mic. Unlistenable—but definitely read the book!
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- Casey Shannon
- 12-09-21
Wait for a better narration of this book!
I’m glad mark kurlansky narrated this book as I think it was a work of passion for him…someone should have told him the quality of the recording was awful…this is the WORST book I’ve listened to on audible…it sounds as if I was recorded in a tin can and and was not edited whatsoever…this was disappointing…that being said the content was interesting if you’re an avid fly fisher…
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- Marc Telesha
- 10-15-21
Awesome content and exactly what I was expecting
Awesome content sadly they put no money into the audio book. Editing is nonexistent of the audio.
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- B. Diaz
- 03-31-21
It isn't Salt, so take this one with a grain of it
This is purely conjecture, but I'm guessing that this book is Mark Kurlansky's passion project and was rejected by more mainstream publishers, so he decided to narrate it himself, perhaps in his bathroom.
Other Kurlansky books are among my absolute favorites, listened to over and over. Salt, Cod, and The Big Oyster are on my list of comfort books I can return to in times of need. Unfortunately, I don't see this one joining the list.
As a book, it's not that bad. I enjoyed most of the content, and I learned a lot more about fly fishing than I ever expected.
And even the performance isn't all bad, though he does sometimes sound rushed, like he's running out of breath and wants to finish a sentence before he passes out. I can ignore the tinny sound after a moment or two.
The real problem here is the editing, or lack thereof. Many times there are multiple takes of sentences repeated. Every narrator makes flubs. That's no big deal. But they're supposed to be removed from the final cut, and when they aren't, it takes us listeners our of the river and reminds us that we're listening to a book, not sharing a fly fishing experience.
That said, I had to laugh and felt camaraderie with Kurlansky toward the end when he took several tries to pronounce the name of a river in Maine and immediately joked about it.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who isn't a Kurlansky fan already or a dedicated fly fisher.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rachel
- 08-01-21
Needs editing
Great book, terrible audio and zero narration editing. Your slacking Audible. Should have had Grover Gardner narrate it.
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- Doogie
- 06-27-21
Good story, horrible performance
Really enjoyed the history with Kurlansky’s personal history and the context it provides to the story. However, this was the worst audio performance I have ever listened too. The recording often sounds like he used his phone in a bathroom, it is completely unedited to remove his multiple blunders in reading, and the volume is constantly variable. However, the best part was when he is having trouble pronouncing an Irish lake’s name, and then blames it on the fact that Irish name things the way that they do because they drink. I will still read Kurlanksy, but he needs a real study and producer.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chad Potter
- 04-11-21
Bush league recording
Terrible performance. First several chapters sound like they were recorded in a bucket. Rest of recording filled with mistakes and glitches. Narrator not well spoken and sounds like it’s the first time he’s even looked at the text...but he wrote it.
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